Rawson/Fischmann race is too close to call

The hottest race yet to be decided is the state Senate District 37 contest between Republican Leonard Lee Rawson and Democrat Steve Fischmann — and it may not be over any time soon.

With all votes in Sierra County in and all but absentee ballots counted in Doña Ana County, challenger Fischmann leads the Senate minority whip by 136 votes. Fischmann currently has 11,330 votes, or 50.3 percent, to Rawson’s 11,194 votes, or 49.7 percent.

In addition to the unknown number of absentee ballots that haven’t yet been tallied in Doña Ana County, both counties have yet to consider any provisional ballots that were cast to determine whether they should be counted. And then there’s the situation with those who requested absentee ballots but ended up not being able to vote because they didn’t receive them in time and didn’t or couldn’t take advantage of any alternative method of voting. Just like the county didn’t release absentee or provisional numbers late Tuesday, it also did not say how many people in the Senate district requested an absentee ballot but ended up not voting.

“Someone’s decided that Lee and I are not allowed to sleep,” Fischmann said late Tuesday. He described himself as being “on pins and needles.”

Asked specifically about the absentee-ballot snafu — the delay in people receiving their ballots was attributable at least in part to the county’s noncompliance with a state law that requires it to send out ballots within 24 hours of receiving requests for ballots — Fischmann called it “a confusing situation.”

“My biggest nightmare before this election was that something like this would happen, because we knew it was going to be so close,” he said. “And whatever it is, we’ll just have to live through it and see where this goes.”

Rawson could not be reached for comment.

Insiders say a loss by Rawson could lead to the overthrowing of the Senate’s leadership. A bipartisan coalition that has been the primary check on the governor’s power could be replaced with a more progressive group of leaders who might be friendlier to the governor’s agenda.